Two Lawrence Nonprofits Awarded Grants For Summer Programs

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — Two Lawrence-based nonprofits were recently awarded grants to hold summer learning programs for children.

Every Child Valued, and PEI Kids were among 25 nonprofits to receive grants from The Princeton Area Community Foundation.

The grant will enable, Every Child Valued to run a full-day summer camp, providing reading, language arts, and math academic enrichment programs for children who live in Eggerts Crossing Village. PEI Kids will provide a summer program for high-risk youth who have been involved with or are at risk of becoming involved with, the court system.

The grants were provided under the Princeton Area Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund.

"Through these grants, we are helping 25 nonprofits engage 2,900 children in educational and social-emotional learning programs," said Jeffrey M. Vega, President & CEO of the Community Foundation.

"We know COVID-19 caused significant disruptions to education, especially for students living in under-resourced communities, and we hope these grants will help young people rebound from some of that learning loss and re-engage children in the many community-based programs that were forced to shut down last year."

According to a report by JerseyCAN, a nonprofit focused on education, a majority of New Jersey's third- through eighth-graders were not on grade level at the start of the 2020-21 school year because of the pandemic.

The Princeton Community Foundation created the COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund in March 2020 to help those affected by the pandemic. It has previously awarded more than $3 million to over 100 nonprofits working to address food insecurity, rental assistance and other needs.

To check out the full list of area organizations that received grants, click here.

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